My husband and I went here for our 2 year anniversary . Overall we liked the place. The pros were, amazing view of lake como, good continental breakfast and pretty quiet.
The negatives were the big hill you had to walk up to get to it if you don't have a car. If you are not in good health I would not stay here. You have to walk up and down to get to the town. It's about a .25 mile walk. I didn't mind going down, but coming up at the end of a day is tiring. The other bad thing was the Walls were so thin and the beds are rock hard! My arms would fall asleep at night. So bring a pillow if you can! The staff was really nice and we liked it. I would recommend staying in Bellagio next time if you are young and want more excitement. We were bored after 4 days there. Beautiful and pretty, love lake como!

A great hotel with an amazing view from the upper level rooms. My room was clean and well furnished. The bed was a little too firm for me but then again so is every bed in Italy. With the construction of the new parking garage in Varenna they had removed the sign indicating the turn off from the main street. We took a Taxi from the train station and I checked out the location online ahead of time so it was no problem but if you are driving be sure to check out the directions before arriving. The staff were very helpful and polite. I highly recommend Hotel Eremo Gaudio.

Both myself, my wife and another couple stayed here in mid November, 2011. Our friends picked this hotel and it is truly a beautiful place to stay. We were here for a couple of nights. We arrived rather late at night at the train station and took a taxi to the hotel. I would recommend taking a taxi to the hotel, as it would be an uphill walk. You can walk back down to the train station, if you are not caring heavy luggage. We were greeted by I believe the hotel manager, Federico, a very nice white haired man. He showed us to our room, which required taking two funiculars and an elevator, as the hotel is built on a hillside overlooking Lake Como. Beautiful, spacious room, with a big bathroom. Our room opened up to a large patio, overlooking the lake. I did not realize what a beautiful view we had until the next morning when I opened the curtains. WOW! We went on a short exploration of the hotel that morning. Simply beautiful! Breakfast (included) was great. A very good selection of different coffees, breads, pastry, meat, cheese, etc. You can sit on the outdoor patio and enjoy your breakfast. The hotel staff was very helpful regarding things to do while in Varenna, Bellagio, and the other lake towns. We spent some time going through the town, as it is very beautiful.
I would suggest a MINIMUM of three nights in the Lake Como area.

My wife and I stayed at the Eremo Gaudio in October 2011 and really enjoyed the location, view, and history of the hotel. We enjoyed breakfast and dinner on the terrace with amazing views looking out over Lake Como.